Distance
by thelittleturtleduck
Summary: With how easy it is to fall in love, you would figure love would be easy as well. But love isn't just an exciting thing, it can actually be quite terrifying for those who have come to fear it. But can forging distance between yourself and your loved one, really make it go away? (Missing plot from Book 3).
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Ok, so hello everyone! I'm writing a multi-chaptered story again! Yay! I'm really excited to get started on this one. I've had this idea floating around in my mind for quite some time now, but hadn't really had the time to sit down and write it all out. It was either that, or because I was purposely avoiding this chapter.

Anyway, just to clarify, this story will follow a missing plot from Book 3: Fire. Though this season was definitely my favorite, I could not help but feel there was a complete thought process that was being put on the back burner until the conclusion of the series.

Katara and Aang.

Though we do get some Kataang moments here and there, the relationship that had built over time was suddenly very void and different. Most of this I would contribute to what had happened at the end of Book 2, with Aang falling in front of Katara and quite literally dying. I imagine that would put a small rift in your relationship, but their story was very jumbled up in the last few episodes and I just really need to make it more clear for my understanding. So, I hope you will enjoy a bit of my insight as well.

As far as this chapter goes, I really would call it more of a prologue as it doesn't really have a basic scene in which I centralized. This chapter is mostly to get the reader caught up to what Katara is thinking and to the events that have recently take place. From here on out, there will be more dialogue and more scenes that relate back to certain episodes within Book 3.

Katara in this chapter gave me a bit of a hard time. I'm constantly at war with the two possibilities of her actions during the time Aang was unconscious. A part of me wants to believe she was broken and moody and untouchable during this time, but my logic wants to take a less tragic route. I wrote her more thoughtful here and more worried than broken. She does appear a bit lost, but she's pulling through that Aang will make it.

(Also the mood of this story and the title is directly from "Distance" by Christina Perri. Give it a listen.)

With all of this said, I will let you read on.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

No one ever said that love was painful. But from Katara's knowledge, that's all it really was.

For as long as the young waterbender could remember, bad things had always happened to the things she loved. It was like when her rag doll was accidently thrown into the fire by a vengeful Sokka all those years ago. Her tiny heart had loved that doll more than anything. Her world had stopped when she witnessed the cloth being burned within the warmth of the fireplace.

But Aang was not a doll. He was a living, breathing human being. He was the Avatar. He was the embodiment of hope.

Yet, here he lay before her, the smell of charred human flesh still burned within the confines of her nose despite the time that had passed since Ba Sing Se. Since he had been struck by lightning. Since he had opened his eyes.

His pale back was smooth all for that one scar that lay on top of his beloved blue arrow that reached up his back and over his head. The skin there was agitated and pulled back, Katara wasn't certain the scar would ever truly go away. Aang was marked forever. Marked by her mistake.

Whatever happened to her duty to protect the Avatar with all her life? What happened to having Aang's back even when she didn't necessarily know what to do? What had happened to all those empty promises she had made herself?

She had been there. She had seen Azula shoot Aang clean through with her cold electricity. She was sure that Aang's heart hadn't been the only one to stop during that time though, because as she watched him arch his back in pure agony and defeat, she was sure she had died too.

Katara could have done something, but she had been too distracted by the fact he had control of the Avatar State. It was all her fault.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the waterbender drew water from the basin beside the bed in which the boy lay. The familiar warmth that spread through her hands as they began to glow couldn't even make her feel warm. Since Aang had gone cold, so had she.

The only time her fire had returned was when they had overtaken the Fire Navy ship in the Bay. At first, she hadn't wanted to leave Aang's side and was leaving the fighting up to her father and the Water Tribe soldiers. But something Sokka had said changed her mind.

"They have supplies, they have clean bandages, and advanced medicine."

That had done it.

Katara was sure her father and his men were shocked at the sheer talent she showed that day. She had gone from a hesitant, unexperienced bender, to a full on master. She fought for Aang though, not to flaunt whatever ability she may now have. It was all for him.

When they had taken control of the ship, the men had helped her bring Aang on. They found cabinets upon cabinets with medicines stacked on top of each other. She had what she needed. The water in the beginning had only done so much.

"Katara."

The young girl's brows rose in shock before she directed her gaze away from her hands to where the young airbender's lips moved lazily. He was whispering something. His eyes weren't open, so she assumed he had yet to wake. He was dreaming.

"Yes, Aang?" She whispered back to him, the water quickly being placed back into the basin, tanned hands reaching greedily to caress his pale, limp one.  
Her face continued to fall as his expression didn't change and his incoherent mumbling continued. He needed to wake up. She needed him to wake up.

This continued on for a few moments, Katara watching his face closely as she waited for something to change. It was as if with the Avatar's fall, time had ceased to exist. The only proof any time had passed at all was the short stubble that lay on Aang's head, covering the line of his tattoo.

Hours could have passed, but the waterbender didn't care. All she wanted was for him to wake up and give her that goofy smile again. It had been so long since they had talked, since she had heard that soft tone he used.

His brows puckered, and he gave a quiet groan of discomfort. Katara's heart contracted as she just squeezed his hand tighter. She had done everything she could, yet she still couldn't diminish his pain.

"Aang, I'm so sorry."

Her voice was quiet, leveled to where it didn't use too much of her energy. She hadn't been sleeping as of late, and she hadn't eaten much either. She spent all of her time at his side yet she still couldn't help him more than she already had.

"I was meant to protect you, and I didn't. I always knew there was a reason that I had found you in that iceberg, and in the beginning I couldn't really see what it was. Gran Gran told me that my destiny was intertwined with your's, but I thought she meant because of our waterbending," Katara's eyes began to fill with tears as she remembered how exhilarating it felt being new friends with Aang. He was like a breath of fresh air. A green leaf in the turbulent winds of the South Pole. He was special.

"But Aang," The tears remained within her eyes as she began to address herself more than the injured boy in front of her, "I don't think that's what she meant at all."

Something had been bugging Katara for months now, constantly tugging at the edges of her heart and causing the blood to rise to her cheeks. She had always brushed it aside, telling herself she would cross that bridge when she needed to. But was that bridge standing right in front of her, directing her down the path she needed to go? Why was that bridge such a scary thing?

Why was love such a scary thing?

"I've seen it, Aang," She spoke softly as she lifted her fingers to play with the dark strands that lay on his forehead, a noticeable relief washing over his face as she gently grazed the skin there with the pad of her thumb, "I've seen you and I, together."

For quite awhile, her dreams had been plagued with abstract colors and meadows and valleys that she had never seen before. These dreams were strikingly different from the cold, snowy ones she had had when she lived in the South Pole. These dreams were plagued by faceless people running together through the tall grass, arms reaching and laughs rising. There were children sometimes running along side the figures, trying their best to keep pace with the taller ones.

After momentous events, those dreams would become a bit clearer. She would see a feature more clearly every time something important happened within their adventures. But it wasn't the fighting and the battles that brought these images forth.

It was Aang.

Little by little after he had kissed her in the cave of two lovers, and had been thrown in to the Avatar State in order to assure her safety, the pieces had begun to come together.

It was her and Aang.

She was running beside him, the young boy clearly taller than her as they pushed passed the blades of green. She would have a smile on her face that caused her heart to warm, but Aang's was far more radiant than her's,  
his stormy eyes never leaving her face. Around their feet, the children would run with their little legs tripping over the other as they giggled animatedly. There was one girl and two boys. She could tell they were their's.

The dreams had become so vivid that she often awoke to tears trailing down her cheeks. She hadn't wanted the scene to end.

"It's wonderful, Aang," She smiled softly, the sparkle in her eyes still had not returned, "There's no more war. We're happy. You're safe. You'd love it."

Katara hated to admit that she enjoyed it a little more than she should.

Things had been growing complicated between them. It wasn't directly happening, but she could tell that Aang was feeling it as well. Ever since her eyes had been opened by that ridiculous fortune, that didn't seem so ridiculous anymore,  
she could feel a pull within their relationship.

There was more there.

Katara had always known she had a bond with Aang, his injury only making it more evident as the time went on. The Avatar had also proven to have quite an attachment to her, sensing she was in trouble from continents away.

She had been meant to find him, not because he was something that she needed to protect, but because they were meant for each other.

This terrified her even more. Protecting him she could do, but being meant for him, being what he supposedly needed, that was a lot for a young girl.

She had long been done trying to hide her feelings from herself. That had left along with the light in his eyes that night while they flew over the Earth Kingdom. It was certain that she loved him, but it just couldn't be that simple.

Along with the war she was facing within herself, there was a war raging on in the world as well. A war that was destined to be stopped by the young boy in front of her. The young boy that had found his way into her heart with ease.

She couldn't expect him to return her feelings and affections while he was trying to prepare for the showdown of a lifetime. That was asking too much of him. That was stretching someone far more than a person should be stretched. The world needed to come before her.

Than there were the scenarios.

What if Aang was defeated by the Fire Lord? What if he died? What if he never returned to her? What if the dream she had been having, didn't come true?

There was an endless list of possibilities.

The more she thought about the current state of her feelings, the more she realized she needed to keep them at bay. Emotions were merely a distraction. As much as she loved optimism, she couldn't help but look towards the future as a cynic with the Avatar out cold beside her. As much as she wanted to hope, Aang had been right.

It was just a distraction.

Katara hadn't realized it, but that night she made a vow to cover up half of who she was. She made sure to bury her feelings down deep as she continued to lovingly caress the Avatar's face, imagining what it would feel like when he opened his eyes again.

If he ever opened them.

Love could be hidden, it could be veiled and it could be avoided, but love could not be diminished. Katara could not remove the feelings she already felt for him. But she could hide them.

She just needed to skirt the bridge until the war was over. Than everything would be fine. With Aang's future set in stone, she would then be able to make her future a reality as well.

But nothing is ever that easy.


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: Ok, so here's chapter 2! Just to let you know, "The Awakening" was one of my favorite episodes in the 3rd book. Kataang was beginning to become super obvious, and I actually really liked that. I enjoyed the fact that it seemed as though Katara had become more decided with her feelings for Aang, though they might not have directly been brought forth, you can hear them in the speech she gives her father. So anyway, this takes place during The Awakening, after Aang's healing session. I may not be posting much this weekend, I have a debate tournament, but I will try my best to update soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

Katara couldn't help but notice that her heart was fluttering unevenly. She couldn't tell if it was from their close proximity, or just from sheer joy.

More than likely it was both.

The two benders had returned to the Avatar's room, the still injured boy appearing exhausted despite his weeks long rest. Katara sat cross legged on his bed, the Avatar laying on his stomach in front of her as he talked softly.

The smell of pungent remedies tickled her nose as she finished rubbing the last bit of medicine on the tender skin of Aang's back, listening to him retell his journey regarding the Guru. A soft smile played on her lips as she lazily nodded, it was so good to be listening to his voice again.

She hit a particularly rough patch that caused him to pause in his storytelling, a grimace becoming apparent on his features.

"Sorry, Aang."

"It's ok, Katara."

She smiled at him as her hands moved to the lower portion of the burn, the medicine clinging to his skin tightly. She needed it to dry before she could wrap the new bandages over it.

"It's nice hearing your voice again," Aang quietly spoke, a small smile appearing on his features as he innocently looked up at her. Katara wasn't going to lie, she really had missed his unabashed compliments. She couldn't help but notice the slight blush on his cheeks as his grey eyes searched her's for a reaction.

Ignoring the rising heat in her own face, Katara answered him with a wry smile, "You're the one who hasn't talked in weeks,  
I must say your voice sounds much better than Sokka's."

Aang chuckled slightly, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

The waterbender paused for a moment, her features suddenly drawn solemn. She reached up to push one of the loopies away from her face, sighing deeply.

"Aang, it's been a really rough few weeks."

The young Avatar's expression sobered then as well, his stormy eyes cast downward. He tensed slightly as the girl began to rub the ointment against the agitated skin on his back again, but he didn't complain.

"I heard you sometimes."

Katara looked down at him as she grabbed the bandages from beside the bed, bringing them up to lay on her crossed legs, "What?"

"When I was out, I think I heard you sometimes."

The young waterbender froze as she looked at him with wide eyes, "Wait, you heard me?"

"Well, yeah."

Katara's heart dropped suddenly, a nervous chill running through her veins, causing her normally tanned skin to pale slightly, "What was I saying?"

With an eyebrow raised at her reserved reaction, Aang sat up and turned himself so that he was sitting directly in front of her, mirroring her position.

"I couldn't ever figure it out," He looked down in shame, "You just always sounded sad. I guess somewhere inside, I knew that was because of me."

The girl's coloring started to come back as her heart rate slowly returned to its normal beating. She had thought he may have heard her dreams. The ones that included them happily together with children.

"Aang," A soft smile appeared on her features as she shook her head slowly, giving him a sympathetic look with her cerulean eyes, "You didn't make me sad. To be honest, I was more mad at myself. For so long, everything I did didn't seem to be working. The fact that I couldn't help you was what was making me upset. I could never be sad because of you."

The Avatar smiled as he watched her pick herself up from the side of the bed, standing and gesturing for him to stand as well.

"I've been changing your bandages regularly," She murmured as he lifted his arms and allowed her to wrap the soft cloth around his torso, "We were all scared your burn was going to become infected"

"Really?"

The waterbender nodded solemnly, "You gave us a few scares. In the beginning, your temperature would fluctuate. One moment you would be chilled to the bone, the next you would be sweating profously. I tried to throw blankets on you to get you to stop shivering, but after that, it always seemed your fever would break and you would be sweating again."

Aang thought about this occurance for a moment, flinching slightly as the bandage grazed his tender wound, "I don't know, that may have something to do with the firebending thing. I've always ran an unusally high temperature. Maybe it's because I have that power within me somwhere, maybe the lightning heightened it."

He voiced his thoughts quietly, looking down at the ground as he lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry I caused you all that trouble."

Katara was just finishing tying the bandage around his shoulder when she caught his defeated apology, her heart clenched at the pain she heard in his voice.

"Aang," She lifted her palm, laying against his cheek, her hand seemingly having a mind of its own as her fingers guided his features back into her line of sight, stormy grey eyes meeting pale blue ones, "I'm the one that needs to be apologizing to you. I was there when Azula shot you, I should have known she would do that. I got distracted. I'm the one who should be saying she's sorry."

The Avatar looked at her shocked for a moment before blinking wildly, hands coming up to pull slightly on his hair, "No, no Katara. I don't want you to blame yourself for this! Please, don't! I'm the one that should have been more careful, it was me who was distracted. Once I went into the Avatar State, I did have control over it, I just let my guard down too easily. Please, Katara don't ever blame yourself for what happened there."

A little taken aback by Aang's outburst, Katara grasped her hands tightly in front of her, looking at her bare feet on the sickening red carpet, "I'm just glad you're ok."

Aang shook his head, "But I'm not ok," He heaved a heavy sigh, in one moment taking on the look of someone who had the weight of the world on his shoulders, "I failed."

Katara shook her head, unraveling another one of the bandages she had laid on his bed and gently beginning to wrap it around his bicep, "You failed no one, Aang. You just hit a bump in the road. You still have time before the invasion."

The Avatar scowled at the word, "Who knows whether I will be better by than or not? With the Earth Kingdom out of the battle, I'm sure we will stand no chance. I will stand no chance against the greatest firebender alive."

The girl tied the loose end of the bandage to where it wouldn't slide up and down. She was searching for words that she knew were there, but that she knew probably wouldn't change the mindset he had already set himself to.

"For what it's worth," He looked up at her, grey eyes sad and muddled, "I still believe in you."

"But you always have. You always say that."

Katara shrugged her shoulders, pushing back one of her hair loopies, "Well, I don't see any reason to stop now. You've never let me down before, and I don't think you ever will."

A small smile appeared on the airbender's face, "As if I didn't already have enough to live up to," His tone was wry and the dry humor that was within his voice caused her to chuckle softly as well.

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

In that moment, Aang released a loud yawn. Katara finding it highly amusing as he hastily tried to cover his mouth with his hand, his expression showing that he was eager to spend more time talking to her. But him as a patient was coming before him as a friend for the time being.

"Ok, Mr. Avatar, I do believe you are supposed to be resting now," She gently guided him back over to his bed, "Healer's orders."

Aang, too relaxed and exhausted to argue, allowed the waterbender to bring him over to the side of the bed he had been sleeping on. She pulled back the blanket for him so that he didn't over extend his shoulder to a point where it would break the bandage. Though Aang saw the gesture as thoughtful, he couldn't help but resent it. He didn't need to be babied.

But with the state he had been in for the past few weeks, he doubted Katara would listen to any complaints such as those even if he tried.

As he got himself situated on the mattress, he noticed that Katara was still standing with a strange expression on her face, twirling a loose piece of hair as she chewed at her bottom lip.

"Katara, what's wrong?"

She released a short breathy laugh after a moment, shaking her head slightly, "I just don't know what to do," She hoped the lighting of the room would cover the blush that she was sure was evident on her tanned cheeks, "For weeks, I've had to stay in here and watch you. I don't even think I've been to my room more than a few times since we have been on this ship. It's just strange that I don't have to watch you anymore."

Aang raised a brow for a moment, "I don't mind you staying here. Is that what you're asking?"

"But you don't need me here."

The Avatar sat for a moment, his expression turning thoughtful, "Did you really need to be here when I was stable? I'm sure I haven't been on death's door for weeks."

Katara opened her mouth to say something, but soon clamped it shut. Pulling the wooden chair she had been using to sit by his side for the past few weeks, she drew herself near to him.

"I'm scared of the nightmares."

Aang's brows furrowed, "Why have you been having nightmares?"

"They've been happening since Ba Sing Se."

The young airbender nodded his head sympathetically, "I think I was having them too."

The girl pursed her lips for a moment before continuing hesitantly, "They only happened once. It was when your condition had stabilized and Sokka had practically dragged me to my room. I was so tired, but I didn't want to sleep. I ended up nodding off in the desk chair by the window, I thought the fresh air might do me good. But in my dreams I smelt it, I smelt it mixed with blood and burned flesh. The salt suddenly turned into my tears as I held you limp in my arms. I could see the event being played over and over again in my head. I started crying in my dream and when I woke up, I realized I had been crying in my sleep."

Aang remained quiet as her voice became lower and lower, a hint of embarrassment at the edge of her tone, but also a slight relief rang through her words, "I had to stay with you. When I was here, if I had a nightmare, at least you would be right in front of me. When I woke up that night in complete darkness, I felt as if I had died too." The Avatar, though concerned for his friend, was ultimately touched by the fact she had even had nightmares about his well being. He thought he had been the only one that had seen her in his dreams.

And in his nightmares.

"Well, I don't mind you staying," The boy reiterated as he gave her a tired smile, "Especially if I can in some weird way help with your nightmares."

She laughed quietly, "I probably won't have them tonight, so much good has happened today."

"Then why are you staying, Katara?"

The girl in question paused for a moment, the vow she had made merely a week ago screaming within her head as she fought back the answer she wish she could have given him. But that would only complicate things further and Aang was in no condition to have unnecessary burdens be placed on him.

"Because," She fought to find a proper response, trying to word her answer carefully, "I just need to know you're okay."

The Avatar laid down fully on his stomach, eyes already closing as he nodded, a soft smile finding it's way on to his features, "I'm okay. I promise."

She waited for him to fall completely asleep before reaching out and rubbing a gentle hand through the hair on his head. Her fingers threaded their way through the short, individual locks, a content smile appearing on her features as she watched his face visibly relax at her touch.

"I stay because I need you, Aang. As much as it terrifies me, I can't deny that you are what keeps me going right now. You're what keeps us all going. I know you don't see it that way, but maybe that's why you're the perfect person to place our hopes on. You give us that hope, Aang. You are hope."


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: Just a heads up, there will more than likely not be an update tomorrow. I will try my best to post Saturday night but with this debate tournament, I have no idea when I'll be getting some free time. I almost didn't write today just because of how bad of a mood I was in, but then I realized writing would probably be good for that. I got a bad grade on an essay today so I figured actually writing would probably be better practice than just being mopey.

This is set at the very end of "The Awakening." Just a heads up, these chapters will skim very lightly over the first half of Book 3. I may not even touch some episodes. But what this will really focus on is from "The Day of Black Sun" and beyond that. The second half of the season was when I felt the Kataang relationship was kind of just put on the back burner so that's where I will be filling in holes mostly!

Thanks for all your reviews, they honestly bring a smile to my face!

God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

There was still that faint taste of blood in her mouth as she watched her brother converse with the Avatar. Her heart rate had returned to normal after earlier, but she was on absolute edge. She still had a pit of fear the size of a cavern within her stomach, the panic of earlier still ebbing its way around her mind.

Katara was grateful that Aang was alright, but after having that same feeling of loss, of desperation, only hours before like the kind that had swept over her after her father left, she couldn't deny that her nerves were frazzled.

This was different than from when Aang had been unconscious, at least she had a grip on him, some notion that he was alright as long as he was with her. But when he had fled the boat in the darkening shades of the night, she didn't have a grasp of where he would go. Why he would go.

Of course she realized the why, but she couldn't understand his reasoning behind it.

After she had said goodbye to her father, she somehow knew where they were going. Sokka didn't even argue when she ordered him to fly in a completely opposite direction than what he had suggested. Appa had complied with the waterbender as well.

That bond with Aang was becoming more evident as time went on. She had usually found it to be terrifying, but she had never been more relieved that she had it than when she spotted Aang washed up on the beach.

That night had been hard. She had felt all the anguish, all the pain he had been going through. She felt like she had failed him. She hadn't stopped him. She hadn't protected him.

She should have known with the way he had been talking that he would bolt. She should have listened to her gut when they had been in town. She could feel a string of her heart being pulled, she knew something was up.

Katara groaned quietly at her stupidity, running a hand along the lines of her face. She curled her other arm tighter to herself under the rough material of her auburn cloak, as if trying to constrict herself into the smallest size possible. She had been so stupid, she was actually embarassed at how dumb she had been.

Appa moved below them, carrying the young warriors over the wide stretch of water that lay between the islands of the Fire Nation. The sun was setting now, and all of them were absolutely exhausted.

"We're probably going to have to fly through the night," Aang yelled back over from Appa's head, having already returned to his assumed captain's position after consulting with Sokka on where to go.

There was a slight groan from Toph as she rolled over to her side, hands plastered over her ears as she muttered something about how much she missed the earth.

So they continued on, the wind washing over their faces as a constant reminder that they were in a foreign place now. Instead of the usual salty sea air they had become accostumed to during their time of travel, the air smelt of ash and smoke.

Sokka eventually switched places with Aang after taking a short nap in the saddle beside his sister, snoring loudly as she tried her best to ignore it. She couldn't help but silently cheer when he woke and tapped Aang on the shoulder. She couldn't fall asleep. She was too wired.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Katara looked up, cerulean eyes illuminated by the pale moonlight allowing Aang to see the hurt expression within them.

"I'm getting there."

Rubbing a hand hesitantly over the top of his head, hands beginning to sweat as he sat before the downtrodden girl, the Avatar gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry. I know what I did was stupid."

The waterbender heaved a sigh as she nervously played with one of her hair loops, the taste of blood returning as she began to bite her lip again. She didn't know how much she should tell him it hurt, she didn't even know whether he should know it hurt.

"It was stupid."

That was a safe comment to make, and judging by the defeated look on Aang's face, he agreed with it.

"I just, I was in a difficult situation, Katara. I needed redemption,  
I needed my honor."

Katara visibly shuddered as she pulled her cloak closer to herself as the cool night air stung her skin, though she doubted that shudder had anything to do with the temperature, "Aang, that sounds an awful lot like something Zuko would say."

"Maybe we aren't as different as everyone thinks."

The waterbender scoffed loudly, a bitter expression appearing on her face, "You are the absolute furthest thing from Zuko, Aang. Don't even talk like that. Don't compare yourself to that maniac."

Aang's eyes turned pleading, "But Katara," His sigh was carried by the very breeze that blew between them, the moonlight casting strange shadows across his face thanks to the presence of his hair, "I'm done trying to pretend like I don't have a responsibility. I do. I needed to accept that, and so do you."

Katara's eyes narrowed as she gave the boy an incredulous expression, "Do you even hear yourself? You're telling me to accept that you have a responsibility? Yeah, sure because I haven't done that before and told you to do that too."

The Avatar shook his head in quick retaliation, "No Katara, I know you know that I have a responsibility. But I don't think you or I or any of us for that matter have accepted how important that responsibility is. I think dying is what made me realize that."

The boy's stormy grey eyes took on a sad expression, causing Katara's face to soften slightly as she gazed at him, "People die every day, Katara. But it takes one death, the death of the Avatar, to diminish the only hope people have of the war ending. This isn't just you, Sokka, and Toph counting on me, it's the whole world."

The girl sighed in exasperation, though it wasn't with annoyance, it was acceptance, "Aang, I know that. I've realized that. But you still need to realize that you aren't just the Avatar. That may be a part of you, but first and foremost you are Aang. You are a human being like the rest of us. Running away from us and directly at your problems was a dangerous move, for both Aang and the Avatar. You are in no condition to be fighting the Fire Lord right now, and you know that and it bugs you."

The Avatar threw up his hands, trying desperately to keep his voice down so as not to call attention to him and Katara, "Of course it bugs me! I'm suppose to the saving the world right now but I can't!"

"You may not be able to do it alone, but that's why we're here."

Aang shook his head, hands tugging the short crop of hair there,"But Katara, that's not your responsibility. It's mine."

"You are my responsibility. I found you, Aang. I'm the one who pushed you into this mess."

The Avatar gave her a wry grin, the tense air between them already starting to evaporate as a familiar spark appeared in his eyes, "Basically what you are saying is that if it wasn't for you, I would still be frozen in an iceberg completely unaware of the world."

"Basically."

The Avatar chuckled softly, "I think I prefer meeting you, instead. I wouldn't go back in time and stop you from finding me. I don't think I could if I tried. I think it was meant to happen."

Katara smiled softly, "Perhaps it was."

They sat in silence for a few moments, the air still blowing across their skin, eyes focused on the moon. Both's thoughts were along the same lines. Thinking of each other, thinking of what they could say in times like this. Maybe if they were just normal kids, they could talk about the latest couples at school and different forms of bending, but they weren't just normal kids. They were the Avatar and his master. But they were also so much more.

"You were crying when you found me earlier."

Katara was shaken from her reverie by his words, the pale moonlight making the blush on her cheeks prominent, "You scared me."

Aang rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, "Yeah, that makes two of us."

"But," Katara continued, smiling slightly despite the topic in which she spoke of, "I was able to reach a bit of closure with my Dad."

The airbender smiled at that, "I'm glad," He paused for a moment before back tracking their conversation, "I don't understand how me running away had anything to do with that though?"

The young girl was hesitant for a moment, her heart clenching as she remembered the way she had felt when she discovered that Aang was missing.

"I haven't felt like that in a long time," Katara murmured, Aang having to scoot slightly closer to her as he struggled to catch her words, "Walking in and not seeing you there, it was like the days when I used to get home and realize my Dad had left. He wasn't forced to go, he chose to. So did you."

Aang opened his mouth to say something, before he clamped it shut. A terrible feeling of guilt washed over him in that moment. That's when he realized that Katara's big, bright eyes had began to fill with tears.

"I had just gotten you back, Aang," Her tone was still soft, but Aang could hear an underlying emotion behind it, "You had just woken up and I could finally talk with you again, and I could hope again, but when you ran away, I felt as though a piece of me had been taken with you. Suddenly, all I could think about was how my father had done the same thing and how he never really did return. I was scared the same thing would happen with you."

The Avatar listened to her confession, his heart hammering as he felt the guilt rising more and more as the seconds ticked by. He had let Katara down. To him, that was equivalent to letting the world down. He had caused her pain.

"I'm sorry."

The girl nodded, whiping her eyes to rid them of tears, "I know, Aang. I was just being overly sensitive."

"No, you were being a good...friend."

Katara's heart thudded a bit as he paused between the two words, half of her hoping he would call her something a little different from a friend, but the other half was relieved that he had used a more downplayed title.

"Yeah, I guess I am."


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: Sorry for not updating the past few days! I was at a debate tournament and was going to post last night, but then we ended up getting further in the tournament than we expected. That, along with the little bit of food poisoning we all got from our lunch yesterday, kept me from posting. Well, that and I fell asleep when I planned on turning my laptop on. Anyway, again I know this is all going a bit fast, but what I am doing is showing bits and pieces of the first part of Book 3 that will end up tying into what I'm planning for the second part. This is all leading to that time gap between The Invasion to Avatar Aang. There's something there, and I need to write it down. I myself am still trying to figure out what happened, and slowly I'm getting an idea, so slowly I am presenting that idea to you. Okay, that is all! Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

They had stopped to rest for the night, to recoup after the disastrous yet lively dance party they had thrown. Each tumbled off Appa and on to the cool grass that lay below them. Though it was night time, the temperature in the Fire Nation did not drop and the humidity was becoming almost suffocating.

Toph and Sokka fell fast asleep. Sokka didn't even bother unfolding his sleeping bag, deciding it was way too hot to be concealed in the heavy blankets.  
Toph, on the other hand, constructed herself an earth tent.

Though she too was tired, Katara could not calm the fluttering of her heart. The girl carefully stroked through a section of her dark hair, fingers busying themselves insistently. She allowed her toes to dip precariously into the river water, the ripples extracting from her motions, resembling her thoughts.

So consistent, yet also so jumbled.

She had been telling herself for weeks now to put her emotions into the back of her mind, to focus only on the task at hand. They were fighting a war,  
she couldn't afford to let what she was feeling get in the way of herself or anyone else for that matter.

But it's Aang.

Everything he does, it drives her crazy. Not in a bad way necessarily, but he makes it harder for her to forget those feelings when she can feel herself gaining strong feelings for him. He's bringing her emotions to the forefront of her mind, therefore making their situation even more complicated than it was before.

She hadn't even known it could be more complicated.

"Katara?"

Though she could see in the murky reflection of the water that she outwardly cringed at his voice, she knew on the inside there was nothing she wanted more than his company.

"Yeah, Aang?"

The boy walked a few more steps before sitting on the bank beside her. His shoes had already been discarded and she noticed he had rolled his pants legs up before coming to sit next to her. He must have been having trouble sleeping as well.

"Thanks."

The waterbender's brows furrowed, "For what?"

Aang blushed, ducking his head to where he was staring down at the water, "For the dance. For everything."

He hesitantly placed his toes in the river, smiling slightly at the fact that the water was actually a reasonable temperature. Katara couldn't help but notice that the boy seemed to unconsciously slide a bit closer to her.

Or maybe it was the other way around?

"Aang," Katara started, smiling at the boy, "You don't have to thank me for dancing with you. To be honest, I was going to thank you for dancing with me."

The Avatar looked slightly taken aback, "Why would you do that?"

"Why would you thank me?"

Aang gave her a half smile, chuckling slightly as he nodded, "Okay, good point."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, drinking in the view of the Fire Nation bathed in the glow of the moon. For a land that always seemed to be tinted red, during the night it actually held a more cooler tone. The badgerfrogs sang from their lily pads in the near marsh and the sounds of Momo's snores reached their ears. All was calm. But Katara couldn't say the same thing about her thoughts.

"Are you going to miss it?"

The airbender looked slightly confused for a moment, his grey eyes turning to meet her's of cerulean, "Miss what?"

"The school?"

Pursing his lips, Aang gave a small shrug, "I guess so. It was nice to be treated like a normal kid for once. When you got to know them, the kids were actually really nice, too."

Katara couldn't hold it in any longer, "That girl you were talking to, what's her name?"

"Which girl?"

The waterbender gave him an exasperated look, "The only girl you bothered to talk to at the party."

The Avatar genuinely looked like he had no idea what she was talking about, "Katara, you are the only girl I talked to at the party."

The girl huffed a sigh of frustration, "The one you taught that ballroom dance to."

It took Aang a moment to create a picture within his mind, but finally he was able to remember whom Katara was speaking of, "You mean On Ji?"

"Yeah, that one."

The airbender shrugged his shoulders mildly, "She was just a girl who was nice to me."

Katara tried her best to conceal her satisfied smile at his answer. He hadn't even remembered interacting with the girl, that must have been a good sign. He did look happier dancing with her anyway, he had only danced with that On Ji girl for a few seconds before moving on.

"Why did you want to know?"

The waterbender's eyes widened for just a moment before she composed herself and nervously blamed Sokka, "Oh, Sokka just said the two of you looked nice together."

Aang's brow rose, seconds later he burst out laughing, "Her boyfriend tried beating me up because he thought the same thing."

This wiped the grin off of Katara's face. So other people had thought him and On Ji had been good together? Her heart pounded a bit faster as she pushed a strand of hair away from her forehead, blushing slightly.

"Aang, did you like her?"

The boy was taken aback by her question but readily replied, "No, she was just really nice to me. I mean she was a good friend, but I didn't like her that way."

In the pale moonlight, Katara caught the rosy tint of Aang's cheeks. Whether it was from her question or from their close proximity, Katara had no idea.

They quieted again, both swinging their legs slowly as they allowed the water to churn around their skin. The waterbender turned to the Avatar as the breeze blew gently, the wind causing his dark hair to brush back freely as well. He still wore his school uniform, the red and black contrasting heavily with his light skin. The only thing wrong was his headband.

Hand hesitating for just a moment, Katara reached up and slowly began to untie the headdress. Aang had tensed at first, having no idea as to what she was doing, before he gingerly began to relax as he felt the constraint around his forehead loosen. When the knot was undone, she slid the cool cotton of the headband into his pale fingers. He in turn, simply laid it on the ground beside them, sighing slightly in relief.

"Thank you."

The girl just nodded before turning back to the river, face tilted up towards the moon, "It's no problem, Aang. I'm sure you're getting tired of having to hide your arrows, and quite frankly I'm getting tired of not seeing them."

The boy's brows furrowed, a hint of surprise lighting his tone, "Really?"

Katara nodded slowly, "Yes. The first thing that caught my attention when I found you was those arrows. They let me know you were special. I would have figured that out eventually whether you had your tattoos or not, but I just feel like they are a part of you. Their a part of both the Avatar and Aang."

The airbender looked at her pensively for a moment before a gentle smile graced his features, a hand reaching up and combing through his dark hair, "I think I know what you mean."

The look on his face combined with the gratitude she could feel radiating off of him, gave Katara all the encouragement she needed. Reaching out, the waterbender grasped his pale palm within her own. Though surprised at first, the Avatar did nothing to escape her hold.

"You're still Aang though, even if I can't see your arrows."

The boy ducked his head, eyes glancing down at their linked hands as he felt his face heating up, "And you're still Katara even if you don't have your hair loopies."

Katara laughed quietly at this, still mindful of her sleeping brother and friend not too far away from them, "Sometimes it's a little strange not having them."

Aang turned solemn at this comment, a fire burning behind his stormy eyes, "Katara, I promise you won't have to hide who you are for long."

The waterbender gave him a gentle smile, a blush warming her cheeks, "I know I won't. You're going to defeat the Fire Lord and then we can come to the Fire Nation anytime we want," The girl let out a slightly disgusted sound at this, "Though I have no idea why anyone would want to come here. Even the air smells like ash."

"Katara, you could say the same thing about the South Pole, except it smells like fish."

His companion simply rolled her light eyes, using her free hand to make a wavering hand gesture, "Whatever."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence, hands still linked. Katara couldn't help but glance at their joined palms every few seconds. She knew she needed to pull away, to maintain the distance she had promised to put between them, but she just couldn't put him through that when she saw how calm and collected he looked in that moment. He deserved some peace. He deserved affection.

Katara realized she was more than likely playing mind games on the young airbender, but quite frankly, he was doing the same to her. He knew how important this war was, how important it was for him to be fully focused, he should know he didn't have time to be crushing on some girl.

But deep down, she knew this wasn't a crush. You don't have these sort of feelings when you just simply find someone cute or admire them. This was a solid feeling, one of balance and happiness.

This was love.

This was horrifying.

The waterbender noticed that she was beginning to break into a nervous sweat at the thought of the word. She had admitted to herself that she loved Aang, but that wasn't what was causing her to be so panicky. The cause of panic was the fact that she needed to keep distance. She needed something that would keep her from initiating any type of romantic relationship before the end of the war. She needed to be patient.

Realizing that holding the source of her affection's hand was doing nothing to help with her dilemma she slowly released her grip on him. The crazy thing was, the moment they lost that connection, she felt something within her heart give a tug. When she locked eyes with him, she noticed he was giving her a look of confusion.

"I think I'm going to try to get some sleep."

She paused, hesitantly contemplating whether she should kiss him on the cheek or not.

She was already in deep, why not?

Slowly she leaned in and gently placed her lips on the cool expanse of his cheek. She could feel him smiling lightly as she pulled away, lips lingering a bit longer than she had intended. She smiled back at him as well as she stood and turned to join her brother and Toph.

Instead of forging distance, the waterbender feared she may just be feeding the flame.


	5. Chapter 5

A/n: Hello everyone! Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I know that it is going to seem like I'm time hopping now, but sadly that's just how this story is! I don't feel the need to add anything to episodes such as The Painted Lady, The Avatar and the Firelord, and The Beach. But this episode, The Puppetmaster, it is an opportunity I cannot resist.

If you have ever had a conversation with me about Avatar, you may know that one of my favorite episodes (if not my favorite) is The Puppetmaster. Though creepy and at the time, though to be a filler episode, I truly do love the story line. It was interesting to see Katara experience something so dark after having her so hopeful and good in the past two books. I find this to ultimately be the point where Katara matured. Though she had already been mature before, I feel like it really became evident here.

I really enjoyed writing this piece, and I've been meaning to sit myself down and write about this for awhile now. I hope you enjoy it!

God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

The chill in the air could not compare to the ice she felt within her heart. Every beat carried with it a surge of electricity that caused her senses to sharpen. She could feel it pulsing through her companions' veins, she could feel it pulsing through her own.

The night seemed to be tinted red.

They walked in silence through the dark of the woods, no one truly knowing what to say. Sokka and Toph walked in front of the group, Sokka searching his map and looking for somewhere they could camp and Toph keeping look out with her hyper sensitive earthbending. The two were slightly on edge from the events that had taken place earlier that night.

Aang walked hesitantly behind her, keeping an eye out in case of an ambush. Though, Katara also suspected he walked behind her to keep an eye on her as well. He probably thought it was the only way he was going to be able to do that, without her shooing him away giving him a half hearted, "I'm fine."

She could feel his tender grey eyes boring holes in the back of her head as she looked right in front of her, not moving her gaze from the trees ahead of them. Crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to warm the coldness she felt inside, Katara resisted the urge to cry. She had already broke down once, she wasn't going to do it again.

They finally reached somewhere that Sokka deemed safe enough to set up camp, but on one moved to unpack anything. The water tribe warrior gathered some sticks and was able to make a fire, but no one scooted closer to it, all recoiling from the warmth. The full moon still shone brightly above their heads, causing a certain waterbender to cringe everytime she caught sight of it.

No one said a word as they all sat and stared at the dancing flames in front of them. Appa and Momo even seemed depressed.

"I'm going to go wash up."

Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for everyone around the fire to hear. Each shared a worried glance before nodding in acknowledgment. Katara stood from the group and hastily picked her way through the trees. A river was nearby, the rushing water usually giving her comfort, made her sick to her very core.

When the river came into view, the blue immediately turned a dark shade of maroon in her eyes. Her element was becoming impure right in front of her. When she set her eyes on that water, the world around her became a faint shade of red just as before.

Breathing deeply, the young girl closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She tried her best to forget what she had become, but it was no use.

She was a monster.

She had reached within the very confines of someone and had manipulated the liquid within them. She could feel every heart beat, she could sense the fear within the person under her control, she could feel the pressure within them building as she tightened her grip.

It had been exhilarating.

But as she had come to learn, some of the most exciting things in life could come in the form of pure evil. She had been gripped by that evil. She had lost a part of herself.

She had lost her innocence.

In that moment, the waterbender suddenly became acutely aware of a heartbeat drawing near to her.

That did it.

Katara fell to her knees and began to sob. They weren't the quiet, shaky sobs she had been crying earlier in the arms of her brother and friend. These were sobs that shook the whole foundation of her body, the origin of them beginning in her very core and releasing in loud, agonizing cries.

She could feel the person them approaching, and she could feel their blood racing as the quick footsteps reached her ears. She refused to open her eyes though, in fear that all she would be able to see was red.

He drew forth quickly, breaking out of the trees and on to the moon lit bank of the slow moving river. His breath caught in his throat as he took in her appearance.

Her shoulders were hunched over and she held a hand over her mouth. That barrier did nothing to quell her loud cries though. Her wavy hair was beginning to stick to the sides of her face as she broke into a sweat in contrast with the cool of the breeze.

Without hesitation, Aang ran over to where she sat on the ground, kneeling down beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"No, Aang," She cried as she pulled away from his grasp, covering her eyes with both of her hands as she tried desperately to turn her face away from his, "Please, you need to go."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Katara began to cry even more, her tone escalating, "You're only making it harder for me! Please, leave."

Aang scooted closer to her, offering what little comfort he could after she had done the same to him, "I'm not leaving you here, Katara."

The waterbender's blood began to boil as the anger within her grew, the urge to control the young Avatar growing with every moment. He didn't understand. She actually wanted to bloodbend. The urge was undeniable, and the thought of harming the young boy was unthinkable. So she lashed out.

Removing her hands from her face and furiously pushing her hair away from her eyes, Katara turned swiftly to the airbender, cerulean eyes burning with hatred, not for him, for herself.

"Aang, I want you to leave! I want to be alone! I don't want to hurt you!"

She was surprised to find that Aang's face didn't change, his eyes still filled with nothing but concern for her as he grabbed her wrist firmly, "You're not going to."

"You don't know that!"

The boy shook his head, squeezing her wrist gently in conviction, "Yes I do, Katara. I know you, I know you wouldn't do that."

"I'm not the same."

Aang's voice remained low and gentle, "Yes you are. You are still the same Katara as you were yesterday."

The girl miserably shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest as the warm tears continued to slide down the tan expanse of her cheeks, "That Katara didn't know how to bloodbend."

"We all have some darkness within ourselves, just because you learned how to bloodbend doesn't mean you have lost all your good."

The waterbender still didn't look convinced, her puffy eyes looking directly into Aang's, "Yes, it does. I'm a monster, Aang. The sick part is, I want to do it. Ever since I used the technique, I've been able to feel the blood coursing through your veins. I wanted to bloodbend you, Aang. I still do."

The solemn expression on Aang's face proved to Katara that he had already suspected this was the path she had been thinking along, "But you aren't going to."

"You don't know that," Her answer was quiet, carried with the light breeze that now held a humidity that felt almost suffocating.

Aang reached out and gently turned her face back around so that she could meet his gaze, sweaty palms gently wiping away her tears.

"I trust you."

The look in his eyes, along with the nauseating pit of despair within her stomach, caused the waterbender to break down in tears again. But instead of pushing herself further away from her friend, she ended up reaching out for him, desperately needing someone close. She needed comfort.

The Avatar obliged with no hesitation or fear, encircling Katara within his arms just as she had so many times before to him. A hand stroked up and down her arm as she released her sorrow into the sleeve of his fire nation school uniform. His short, dark hair tickled her ear as she buried her face in the skin of his neck.

"Katara," Aang whispered softly as her cries continued and caused his heart to ache with every desperate sob, "I know what it feels like. When I go into the Avatar State and then snap out of it, only to find that what I have left behind is destruction, it takes everything within me to not break down in tears. It's scary knowing what I can do. But, I also find it empowering in a sense."

The waterbender sniffled as she released her hold slightly on him, just enough so she could meet his gaze, "What do you mean?"

Aang smiled gently at her, "I find myself growing stronger every time I resist the urge to use the Avatar State. Even though I'm not even sure I can use it anymore, I still find myself wanting to lose my temper. But I have seen what I can do, and I have had to build myself to be resistant against my ability.  
Though it is hard, it has brought me strength."

Katara's brows furrowed at what the Avatar had said, but as she looked up into the tender gaze on his face, she found herself slowly beginning to calm. Though she was aware of his heart beat, she was also very aware of her own racing one as he hugged her closer to himself, shielding her from the world.

In a moment, her world began to spin and the nauseating feeling finally became too much. She quickly pulled herself from Aang's arms and crawled desperately to the side of the river.

Katara clutched her stomach desperately as the bile built up and she couldn't take it anymore. She began to throw up into the murky water, salty tears mixing with the sweat that had began to slide down her cheeks.

Instead of running away in disgust as she suspected most boys his age would do, Aang cautiously approached her from behind, not sure what her reaction to his prescense would be. But once he caught the sobs mixed in with her chokes, the airbender couldn't stop himself from gently pulling the hair away from her face and rubbing her back in comfort.

It was as if her body thought it could trick itself into thinking it was ridding it's person of evil, but it was doing absolutely nothing to help.

Once her stomach was empty, and her chokes had ceased, Katara sat back on the ground and curled up into herself, hiding her face in her knees.  
Aang could tell she was embarassed.

"I'm sorry."

It was a quiet whisper but the Avatar still caught it, "Katara, you have nothing to be sorry for. You've worried yourself sick."

The girl nodded her head miserably, lifting her eyes to look over her forearms, "You didn't need to see that."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to be sick alone."

The waterbender straightened her legs out on the grass, the stiff blades scratching against her skin. She sat for a moment, still breathing a bit heavily from exhaustion.

When she had finally gathered herself, she scooted forward and ran water over her face, cupping a bit of it in her hands and gingerly washing her mouth out. Aang sat quietly as he watched her.

After cleaning both her face and mouth, Katara turned back to face him, a look full of sorrow on her face, "Aang, I don't know if I'll ever be the same again."

The airbender shook his head slowly, "Nothing has changed, Katara. You have had the ability to bloodbend all your life, but you have always been strong enough to resist it. I believe in you. You're the strongest person I know."

Looking down, the waterbender played with the grass carefully, trying desperately to hide the meek blush that she knew must be dusting her cheeks at the moment.

Aang caught it though, and saw it as an encouragement to continue, "Come on, you need a hug."

Katara glanced up at the boy, noticing that his arms were open in inivitation, and despite the cold she felt within her heart, she couldn't help but release a slight breathy laugh at the sentiment, "Using my own words against me?"

The Avatar shrugged, but his invitation still stood, "I wish I would have accepted it long ago, maybe this will make up for the way I treated you back then."

The waterbender gave him a warm smile as she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him, feeling his wrap firmly around her waist. Katara could hear the shift in his heartbeat as she drew nearer, but quite frankly she was more worried about her own to be paying any mind to his.

"I wish I would have listened to you," Aang murmured as he pulled back slightly to see her face, "You were right all along. I did end up finding Appa.  
Though it felt as if I would never hope again, in the end, I was able to."

Katara gave him a tired smile, "I know you are trying to apply this to the situation, but I think I liked it when you were hugging me better than when you were using my advice against me."

Aang chuckled quietly but took her into his arms again, "It was worth a shot."


	6. Chapter 6

A/n: Alright, last chapter until we really hit the plot line...I think! Who knows! I may add another filler, but as of right now, I am pretty sure the next chapter will mark the beginning of the actual story. So this takes place after "Nightmares and Daydreams" though before the morning on the Day of Black Sun. Honestly, I have a little trouble imagining Sokka not having even the tiniest inkling of what was going on between Katara and Aang, so I wrote this! Please review and comment! Thank you for all the ones you have sent in so far! God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

* * *

"He looks happy," Katara jumped slightly as Sokka's quiet words reached her ears. The boy stood behind her with his arms crossed over his chest, blue eyes pensively watching the sleeping Avatar, before glancing over at his sister.

Katara stood directly beside the makeshift bed of stone, watching over the recently frazzled, sleeping boy. A soft smile was evident on her features as she watched every gentle rise of his chest. Aang's facial features weren't scrunched up in pain as they had been for the past few nightmarish days. In fact,  
he looked serene.

Which made the waterbender happy as well.

Sokka continued to watch as she nodded slowly, still watching her sleeping friend, "Yeah. Maybe all he needed was a bit of a confidence boost."

"I don't know why."

Katara's brows furrowed, a slight annoyance leaking through her quiet whisper, "Really? You're the one that's been telling him how he must defeat the Fire Lord or we're all done for, and you don't understand why he was so stressed?"

Sokka waved his hands in front of him in defense, "I wasn't talking about that. I know I should have gone easier on him," Her brother then let his gaze slide back to Aang, "He's just so powerful. It's hard to imagine that he would fear anything, that he would even doubt himself."

"He's still Aang, Sokka," Katara whispered, looking back to the boy, blissfully unaware of the two siblings talking about him,  
"I think even sometimes he forgets how powerful he is."

They stood for a moment, both silent as the moon hung over their heads and bathed the hills with its glow. Toph snored from where she slept a few feet away, and whiped furiously at her nose as the breeze picked up, causing the dirt on the ground to stir. Sokka was going to say something when Katara finally spoke.

"He's worried about failing again."

Sokka's brows furrowed at this, "I thought he was over that?"

The waterbender sighed deeply at her brother's comment, "Honeslty, he was shot with lightning and killed, Sokka. Do you think you would get over that quickly?"

Her brother shook his head, "Of course not, but he's been telling me the past few days that his nightmares were always about facing the Fire Lord and not being prepared."

Katara's cerulean eyes softened as she kept her gaze on Aang, watching as his lips twitched slightly, "I'm sure it has something to do with that too, but I think he's scared of letting us down again."

Sokka looked at the boy with sympathy, "Did he tell you that?"

His sister shook her head, "No, but he didn't have to. I know Aang. He always puts the thoughts of others before his own personal judgement."

The water tribe boy had to agree with that statement. After spending so much time with the young Avatar, it was clear that the poor boy worried himself sick over what others thought of him.

Sokka watched as Katara took a few steps forward and brushed a few strands of hair away from Aang's forehead, giving them a slight glimpse of the powder blue tattoo hidden behind the thin locks. The way she did it was so tender, so loving, that Sokka found a familiar spark of suspicion light within him.

"Katara, can I ask you something?"

His sister nodded in return, her demeanor becoming rigid in fear of what he would say next. Sokka hadn't made a sarcastic or snarky comment the whole time they had been talking, and this worried her greatly. The two siblings having such serious conversation with each other was extremely rare, and extremely suspicious.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

Her heart rate picked up, but she put forth her best effort to keep any emotion from showing on her features. She turned to meet his gaze, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sokka gave her a dubious look, a hand going to his hip as his blue eyes watched her suspiciously, "I think you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Sokka, you are driving me crazy!" The waterbender whisper yelled as she threw her hands up in exasperation, "I have no idea what you are talking about!"

Her brother shook his head in mock disappointment, "Denial is always the first sign."

Katara rolled her eyes, "It's not denial. It's the truth."

Sokka's gaze met her's and for a moment, Katara feared that he could see what was going on within her head. The last person she wanted to know of her inner turmoil was her brother. Well her brother or Aang.

"There's something going on between you and Aang."

"What?!" Katara asked incredulously, though she could see that Sokka wasn't buying it, "Now you are just being ridiculous!"

"Am I?" Her brother's eyebrows raised suggestively as he watched for her reaction.

"Yes, you are!" Katara hoped that Sokka would take the blush on her cheeks as being a result from the anger she felt towards his teasing, but she highly doubted he would fall for that. Sokka may have been an idiot, but he definitely was not stupid.

The boy's expression changed than though, watching as his sister both fumed and blushed at what had been said. Talking a bit quieter now, Sokka held his hands in front of him, "Hey, it's okay. You two spend a lot of time together. I would be surprised if there wasn't something going on."

"Well than be surprised because nothing is going on."

Her brother shook his head, turning his gaze towards the moon, "Oh Katara, when are you going to learn that this whole denial thing isn't going to work with me."

His sister huffed, turning from him as she put her hands on her hips and regained a rigid stance, "Just go to sleep,  
you're just trying to make me angry."

"No, I'm trying to understand."

Katara scoffed disbelievingly, "Yeah, I'm sure that's what you're trying to do."

"No, really."

Still frustrated, Katara turned to him, a curious look evident on her features, "Well than what are you trying to understand?"

"Why you're doing this to yourself."

Katara's eyes turned into slits as she glared suspiciously at him, "Doing what?"

"Avoiding the issue."

Rolling her eyes, the girl threw her arms up in exasperation, sarcasm leaking through her tone, "Well, geez! What issue do you seem to be talking about?! If you haven't noticed, we seem to have a lot of them!"

"Not the issues that involve this war, Katara. I'm talking about the fact that you made it pretty clear during the time that Aang was unconscious how you felt about him, yet now it sometimes seems like you don't even want to be around him."

Katara shook her head in refusal, though she knew part of that was true, "I never did any of that."

She had been trying to push him away during the few days they had before the invasion. After he had comforted her that night when she had learned bloodbending, she couldn't allow her selfish desires to override the well being and attention of the Avatar. Especially after he had done so much to help her. It was her turn to help him.

When he had started waking up with nightmares, she had done very little comfort him. Though she saw that as a bad decision now, seeing that he couldn't sleep without the comfort he needed, she still could not allow herself to be completely honest with him.

She owed him that much.

"You know it's true, Katara."

In a futile effort, the girl shook her head again though her armor was breaking the more she thought about it. She had made Aang talk to Sokka and had made him get physical therapy from Toph. Both of those things she could have easily done with her voice and healing hands, but she was still trying to keep their seperation. When Sokka had mentioned there was only 4 days until the invasion, it had shocked her. She wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to lose him if that's what happened on the day the sky turned black.

Maybe her distance was the selfish desire, not her love.

Wiping a hand across her eyes, the waterbender willed herself not to cry in Sokka's presence, "Things are just complicated, Sokka. I really don't want to talk about it. Please, don't make me talk about it."

She turned her face away from him, hoping that he would let her be and walk away. She was surprised when, instead, he wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders.

"It's going to be okay, Katara," She could hear a slight twinge of pain within his words, the pain still laced with Yue's death evident in his hollow tone, "The war will end soon. This will all be settled, and Aang will come back."

Katara wanted to believe her brother's words, but she just couldn't. Thankful though for the comfort, she nodded her head in mock agreement.

"Thanks, Sokka."

He gave her one last squeeze before turning around and letting out a loud yawn, mumbling something about Momo acting like he owned his sleeping bag. Katara allowed herself a small chuckle at her brother's ever changing attitude, but then she sobered again.

The waterbender rested her gaze on Aang's face, watching his nose twitch slightly in sleep. It was an absolutely endearing sight. In the span of a day, she may never have the opportunity to just sit back and watch him again. She may never get the opportunity to see him again.

The girl hesitated slightly as she lowered herself to the ground, nervously fiddling with a few blades of grass as her skin came in contact with the cool floor of the meadow. She knew Sokka would tease her for staying right beside him as he slept, but she couldn't help herself.

She needed him beside her.

A panic rose within her stomach as that realization fully crashed down on her, as thoughts of those dark weeks of Aang's unconsciousness came flooding back. He had always been right there though, giving her a slight sliver of hope that he would return to her.

What would she do if she didn't have that? Could Aang be the source of hope that she had always felt within herself?

Katara laid back on the cool grass and pushed the palms of her hands over her eyes, trying to keep the bad thoughts from breaking her. She breathed deeply over and over, trying to instill some sort of confidence within her mind just as Aang had done.

When she thought she was going to completely lose it, Aang's hand slipped off the make shift bed subconsciously The waterbender stared at it for a moment before glancing up at the young boy. He seemed to still be sleeping.

Katara took her time reaching for the pale, tattooed hand. But as her tanned fingers came in contact with his, she quickly locked their hands together and laid back down on the grass, eyes closing though arm situated uncomfortably. But she didn't care.

As sleep took her, Aang allowed himself a peak at the waterbender that lay on the ground beside him.

He had heard every word.


	7. Chapter 7

A/n: So this is actually kind of a filler chapter, but that doesn't mean it's not important. This gives a bit of insight into what I feel was plaguing both Aang and Katara during the last episodes of Book 3. I had expected to really get things going in this chapter, but I have realized that I can't really do that until the Western Air Temple. So I thought I may take a moment to give you a bit of a preview of our Book 3 Aang and Katara. Both have doubts and fears within the episodes, yet I feel like even though we didn't see much of them together, behind the scenes they truly did lean on each other. With how close of a relationship they have, it's hard for me to imagine them ignoring each other while at the Western Air Temple. Although it sort of looked as if they were. Please review.

Also, to contact me, I suggest my tumblr: .com

God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "The Legend of Korra".

* * *

The once comforting salty breeze wrapped around her, suffocating her as if a string were tied around her neck. The feeling had become so palpable, that she couldn't stop herself from reaching up every now and again to make sure nothing was actually choking her.

Her palms had become sweaty despite the chill in the air. The night was silent despite all the new travelers they carried with them on Appa's back. No one spoke a word.

No one wanted to.

The defeat earlier had truly done a number on them. Even Katara, once so full of hope, burrowed herself in the corner of the saddle, furthest away from Appa's head.

But she had very different reasons for silence.

That day had been disappointing, and the scare with her father had shaken her to her very core. But that wasn't what was nagging her at the back of her head, not letting her get one moment of peace without the thought suddenly popping up.

The kiss.

Sighing, the waterbender rolled over onto her other side, desperately trying to find comfort while still feeling as if something constricting had taken a liking to her neck. She buried her face in the leather of Appa's saddle. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt it.

She felt his lips, warm and hesitant. She felt his grip on her shoulder, reassuring and strong. She felt the heat in her face as she thoroughly enjoyed the whole occurrence Maybe that part wasn't a memory though, perhaps behind the veil of night the kiss was still causing her to blush.

That kiss had set her back about ten steps.

She had already resolved that she wouldn't address any type of relationship, except the one she already had, with Aang until after he defeated the Fire Lord. She had forced herself to except that. Though, she still was a bit unsure as to the feelings she had towards him, that kiss had truly put some very evident things in place.

She loved him. She had made that realization long ago, but for some reason, she felt like she was having a slight epiphany whenever he did something that caused her to love him more. Aang had a wonderful way of just being himself, yet effecting the people around him in more ways than he could ever imagine.

She had witnessed it personally.

She was a victim of it actually.

There were still slight doubts in her head from the age difference and the height difference, but she wasn't lying when she told him earlier that day that she could no longer see him as a goofy little kid anymore. He had grown to be a mature, young man. A powerful Avatar.

She didn't quite understand what her thoughts were doing at that moment. She felt as if at some points she was ready to scream her love of him to anyone would would listen, and then at other times she felt as if she wanted to hide away from the profession that lay within the confines of her mind.

Was this what Gran Gran had meant when she was a child? About how getting older was never easy?

All the women in her tribe had talked so excitedly about marriage and growing old together back during the happier times in the South, but they had never talked about the actual falling in love part.

Was it always this tough?

Katara suspected her case was a little more complicated considering the object of her affection was also the world's last hope. Her last hope as well.

"Katara?"

The girl froze, the familiar voice causing her to shake slightly. She should have known he would hand over the reigns to Sokka and come talk to her. She wasn't ready to talk about this. She needed him to acknowledge the space she was trying to put between them.

But when she turned over to meet his stormy gaze, she didn't have the heart to say anything that would give him the idea she didn't want him there.

Because she knew that somehow he would know it was a lie.

"Yes?" She sat up, pushing her Water Tribe blanket to the side.

The boy fiddled slightly with his sash, looking ashamed as he slowly sat beside her, resting an arm on the edge of the saddle, "I'm sorry."

Katara's brow rose at his sincere apology, "About what, Aang?"

She hoped it had nothing to do with the kiss.

"About your father," His voice was low, and his hands were shaking with raw emotion as he shook his head slowly, "I can't believe all of those people were forced to sacrifice because of my failure. It's just like when I ran away."

The waterbender's cerulean eyes softened as she gently laid her hand on top of his arm resting along the side of the saddle, "Aang, this isn't your fault. This was Sokka's invasion plan, and this was Azula's doing. You had nothing to do with the outcome."

"I could have faced the Fire Lord."

Katara nodded, scooting a bit closer to him as she lowered her voice, aware of the multiple bodies around them trying to sleep, "Yes, you could have."

Aang sighed deeply, looking over the side of the saddle at the ocean that stretched for miles below, "But I didn't."

The girl gave him a small smile, "But you will," Squeezing him gently on the arm, Katara waited until his gaze was locked with her's, "You get another chance, Aang. This isn't the end."

The Avatar ran a hand over the pale blue arrow that lay on his forehead, "I know, but I could have ended this war. I let my fear get in the way."

Katara laughed quietly at this, gaining the attention of the airbender immediately, "Aang, I think we all were scared. This just wasn't our day. We still have a while before the comet comes and that's what we need to put our focus on, we don't have time to look into the past."

The boy gave her a strange look, obviously thinking back to the kiss they had earlier, "Right," He said the word slowly and unsurely,  
not quite certain he wanted everything from that day to be forgotten.

Guessing where his thoughts were headed, Katara quickly released her grip on his arm, using her free hand to comb nervously at her hair. Hopefully, Aang wasn't feeling as bold as he had been earlier.

"I can't stand the thought of people still dying over this war," Katara turned her attention back to the Avatar watching as he fidgeted with a string on his pant leg, "There are families being torn apart because I haven't defeated the Fire Lord yet."

"You're doing everything you can."

"Am I?"


End file.
